VECTOR is the FIRST book in Rob Swigart’s Thriller in Paradise series.

A TERRIFYING CONSPIRACY: A PSYCHOPATHIC KILLER, A RUTHLESS CABAL, AND A WEAPON POTENTIALLY MORE LETHAL THAN NUCLEAR WAR…

Detective Cobb Takamura’s idea of a busy night is a few drunken tourists and a jaywalker. That is, until the flood of killings begins, when suddenly the tropical paradise he calls home becomes a raging inferno of violence and bloodshed. Seemingly the victims–who all died screaming of unknown causes, have nothing in common.

With the help of scientist and martial artist Chazz Koenig, Takamura tracks the deadly conspirators– and their state-of-the-art biological weaponry.

Fun for fans of James Michener’s classic, HAWAII, Charlie Chaplin, Magnum PI, Hawaii Five-O, Hawaiian Eye, or any mystery series set in Hawaii, especially vintage ones–VECTOR’s set in the 80s. Also fun for fans of Michael Crichton-type action-adventure technothrillers with a dash of science fiction for flavor.

Toxin is the SECOND book in Rob Swigart’s Thriller in Paradise series.

DOES A SATELLITE CRASH ON KAUAI COUNT AS TROUBLE IN PARADISE? HOW ABOUT A SIMULTANEOUS PLANE HIJACKING?

Hawaii police lieutenant Cobb Takamura and molecular biologist Chazz Koenig return in this tale in which the murder of an unpopular real estate developer leads to the inner circles of international defense.

On the same day that Victor Linz is shot during an early morning jog, reports filter in that an out-of-orbit satellite may land on Kauai. A reporter tailing an intelligence officer from the mainland is found near the remote site of the satellite crash; he is comatose and suffering from severe skin and internal ailments. Panic follows when a rumor spreads that the satellite carried a deadly toxin.

Cobb must conduct the murder investigation and maintain calm on the island all while negotiating with one of the murder suspects who is hijacking a commercial airliner. Meanwhile, Koenig races the clock to control the effects of the toxin.

Excerpt:

With an effort he threw back up onto his mental wall the computer screen of his spreadsheet program. The numbers appeared again, glowing green, each in its cell. Without willing it, he saw his alimony payments fall into place, and all the profits that had glowed so richly before dropped alarmingly. He could feel the stab of disappointment as they fell, could feel the bitter taste in his throat when he thought of Anne lying beside the pool, sipping one of her endless silent gins.

The sun was above the horizon now, and traffic on the Kuhio Highway grew with it. The pickups and ancient sedans flowed steadily north toward the remaining sugar fields, engines occasionally barking on the downshift. The quiet hum of traffic reassured him. To hell with Anne. Let her stew, let her roast. Let her burn her skin with ultraviolet until she rots. More power to her. He let the slap of his hand against the trunks slacken as he turned onto his eighth lap. By the time he was closing once more on the hotel entrance he was smiling again. What the hell, he thought. He should start adding that extra mile or two today. Why put it off? He ran on past the steps and into his ninth lap.

He saw that distant flash again as he turned the corner and moved down the line of palms.

At the moment the bullet struck he was calculating how much of his income he could conceal from Anne’s lawyers by putting the Kapuna deal into a dummy corporation in Angela’s name.

He felt the surprisingly powerful shock, and ran on three steps, too surprised to stop. After the third step the pain seared him with a new heat far greater than that of the sun, now hovering, a red sphere, above the wet blue horizon behind him. He stumbled then and fell sideways against the nearest tree, pressing his hand to his side. What the hell is this? he thought. A heart attack? Wrong place, in the side here. He took his hand away and looked at it.

“What’s this?” he said aloud. “What is this?”

It was a stupid question. It was blood, a lot of blood, and it was his.

As darkness gathers above the gorgeous Hawaiian island of Kauai, a small ship drifts into harbor, unpowered and in danger of running aground. On board are seven bodies. Lieutenant Cobb Takamura soon traces the death ship’s route and the cause of death to an exotic venom. As he navigates the tricky waters of international politics, biologist Chazz Koenig tries to isolate the poison. But they can’t stop two more women from being brutally murdered. A killer is loose in the island paradise, and as he assumes various guises he moves closer to the families of the men who pursue him.

Papyrologist Lisa Emmer’s world flips when the Surete meets her at her Metro station with news of the savage murder of the esteemed Paris historian Dr. Raimond Foix, her friend and mentor in the study of ancient documents. Horrified, Lisa finds clues at the crime scene left behind for her by her mentor–clues to a secret kept hidden for centuries. These clues make her a prime suspect in the murder investigation, and also put her directly in the cross-hairs of a deadly commando group that proves to be none other than a contemporary offshoot of the Inquisition.

They want an ancient document that reveals a secret so explosive it could change the world–a document they’ve been tracking for centuries. Led by a sadistic priest and a vicious but very accomplished nun with excellent military cred, their mission is to destroy the document–no matter what the cost in blood.

Desperate to clear her name and to stay alive, with the help of a handsome yet mysterious banker, Lisa must solve the clues and uncover the millennia-old secret before her adversaries can find and destroy it. Since she was a child Lisa had suffered from uncontrollable fugue states. Now she discovers just in time that what she always thought was a liability may in fact be an almost paranormal ability to see things in ways others cannot. The trail leads everywhere from ancient cemeteries and tombs throughout France to Istanbul and Greece, as Lisa and Steve desperately stay one step ahead of their enemies, solving the clues to a dangerous treasure hunt their lives now depend upon.